


Out of My Shell

by SpicyRedPaladin



Series: Mine Alone [4]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angry Rick Grimes, Coming Out, Established Relationship, M/M, Standing Up For Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 05:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11616426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyRedPaladin/pseuds/SpicyRedPaladin
Summary: They stayed out there together until they heard walkers approaching, heading back into the Safe-Zone and back to the place where they no longer had to keep their love a secret. And if anyone had a problem with it, well.. They would just have to learn to live with it.





	Out of My Shell

**Author's Note:**

> I finished Chapter 7 of 'Push Me to the Edge' early, so I made this.

Carl watched the sunrise with Daryl up in the watch tower. They had been starting their days like this for almost a month now, facing the rising sun in each other's arms. They liked being alone like this, happily greeting the new day together as though in defiance of the hellish world around them. Carl had been training himself with a slingshot since darts had become second nature. He was beginning to be able to take out walkers with a single stone each, bringing about praise from his older lover.

The teen, now a man (though no one knew he had reached that milestone), thrived on that praise, improving his skills daily. He spotted a walker lumbering towards the wall and sat up, picking up his slingshot and a rock before sending the stone hurtling towards the undead. It dropped and Carl smiled proudly. Daryl chuckled and pulled the boy back into his arms. "Good job. Maybe your dad'll start letting you go out now that you can use a weapon."

The suggestion was met with a scoff. "Yeah, right. And maybe Negan will decide we can have all our shit back." Daryl shook his head, smiling softly. "Y'know, Daryl.. He listens to you sometimes. Maybe you.. could convince him that I'm ready..." The man sighed and stroked Carl's hair.

"Maybe I could just kidnap you instead, huh? Run off together and never look back." Daryl shook his head. "Nah.. I wouldn't pull you away from your family..." Carl played with the hairs growing on Daryl's chin. The idea didn't sound unappealing to him, but he knew his dad would be after them before they could even get into the woods. Daryl spoke a again. "Speaking of, are we ever going to tell Rick?"

As if on cue, Rick's voice called up to them. "Carl! Come on down, I gotta talk to you!"

The teen sighed. "Speak of the devil... I don't know if I'll be back. Don't get too lonely without me." He leaned over and kissed his older lover, who returned it with a smile. Carl made his way down, heading out of the tower to his dad, who was waiting patiently. The man gave him a halfhearted smile, motioning for him to follow. Carl did so cautiously, wondering what it was his dad could be wanting to talk about.

They headed inside and he had Carl take a seat at the table, sitting himself across from his son. They stared at each other silently for several minutes, both feeling too awkward to say anything. Finally, Rick broke the silence.

"We haven't really talked in a while, have we?"

Carl bit his lip a bit. "No, I guess not.. We've been pretty busy with, y'know, the end of the world."

Rick nodded and rubbed his hand over his mouth, looking down. "Well, I realized I've.. probably not been there for you as much as I probably should have... Lots of things I haven't explained and such..."

Carl's eyes widened a bit with horror. This couldn't be it. His father was really about to give him 'the talk'? "Dad, I know about sex. I have for a while."

Rick looked away, his face a bit red as he rubbed his temple. "Yeah.. Of course you have. Damn it, I've really been slacking.. So you know about sex, huh? I guess you asked someone when you heard about Maggie."

The teen nodded. He'd asked Daryl about it when it had been announced that Maggie was pregnant, having felt too embarrassed to ask his own father. "Yeah, Daryl explained and stuff.. Don't worry, he didn't scar my brain with it."

Rick pursed his lips. "That brings us to the next question, then.. You've been awful close to a few specific people lately... Daryl is one of them. Negan, too. I really don't want you being influenced by that monster, Carl. He's worse than the walkers. He killed our friends."

Carl gripped the edge of his seat. "I know. Seriously, dad, there's nothing to worry about. Daryl's been keeping me safe. Negan's literally just been making me play darts against him." He let himself smile a bit. "I beat him last time."

The older man shook his head. "You're getting too friendly with him, Carl. He's a murderer. Daryl should be keeping you away from him, not watching you two play games. And speaking of Daryl, where the hell have you two been running off to together? I never see you two apart anymore."

There it was. Carl was torn between telling his father the truth and risking his lover's neck, or lying and risking his lover's neck if he somehow found out anyway. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. "You're not going to like it."

"Try me."

"You're going to get mad."

"Tell me, Carl."

"Promise you won't kill anyone."

"Fucking tell me or I might!"

He looked down. "Daryl and I are sneaking off to be alone together. We're in a relationship."

Rick slammed his hands down on the table and stood, the chair he was in hitting the wall. "Like hell you are! He better jump out of that fucking watchtower before I get my hands around his goddamn throat!" Rick began to go to the door, but Carl moved in the way.

"Dad, no! I'm not letting you kill Daryl! Violence isn't going to solve this, it's just going to make me hate you!"

Rick glared at his son, pure rage in his eyes. "The fuck you're not! I'm not letting that piece of shit touch you! You're my son and you're going to do what I fucking say! Now get out of the way." He took another step forward.

Carl stood his ground defiantly. "Wake the fuck up, asshole! I'm not a kid anymore! If you're going to kill him, you're going to have to fucking kill me too, because I'm not letting anyone hurt the people I love!"

"You don't even know what love is! You're a child, Carl!"

Their argument was interrupted by the sound of Judith screaming upstairs. Rick winced, the anger fading from his face. "Shit, Judith.. Michonne's up there too.."

He looked back at his son. "Carl.. I really don't approve of this."

The teen glared up at him. "I don't care if you don't approve. Who I let in my heart is my decision, not yours. I love Daryl, and he loves me. End of discussion."

Rick stared at him silently for a long moment before sighing. "You're really set on him, aren't you?"

Carl nodded. "He's mine. I'm his. That's all there is to it."

The man ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Just don't do anything stupid, Carl.." He turned and went upstairs to apologize to Michonne, leaving Carl alone.

He was stunned, to say the least. He felt as though he had just successfully diffused a bomb. His father's tempers were notorious, and this was the first time he'd managed to actually talk him down. With high spirits, the boy went back to find Daryl exiting the watchtower, his shift now over.

Daryl let his lover drag him away to one of their hideaways in the trees, held him as the boy told of what had just happened, and praised his bravery in the face of an angry Rick. Just what he'd expect from a Grimes, stubborn and stupidly brave. He kissed Carl again and again, bringing about beautiful smiles from the one-eyed teen.

They stayed out there together until they heard walkers approaching, heading back into the Safe-Zone and back to the place where they no longer had to keep their love a secret. And if anyone had a problem with it, well.. They would just have to learn to live with it.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated. I don't know if I'll be continuing after this or not, we'll see. If feels like a nice ending to me, but I'd love to know if you guys agree.


End file.
